Carrot Cake

I had some spare time on my hands this weekend I decided to bake so I used this as an opportunity to try a carrot cake recipe by Alton Brown of Food Network. He is that slightly nerdy looking guy with glasses who is always acting out skits and running around the local Bed, Bath & Beyond for cooking gadgets. To some, Alton may seem like he never really makes anything because there is always so much teaching that happens during his show and he doesn't end up setting out a spread at the end to chow down on like, say, Rachel Ray. But that's one of the reasons I enjoy his show so much. Anyone can pick out a recipe from a cookbook and have a decent outcome, even delicious, but the things that he teaches on his show allow you to pick the best recipe for what you want to make and, with some more extensive knowledge, even make up your own recipe.

Alton teaches the 'science' of food: what ingredients go together, how they need to be mixed and prepared and why all this stuff is necessary. It's almost like watching a culinary instructor in your living room for 30mins a night. I remember when I first started cooking and reading recipes, I would find myself scratching my head every once in a while and re-reading recipes thinking that I missed something in the directions. The thing was I didn't totally understand why all the steps in preparing a recipe went in the order they did but after a while of reading cookbooks and magazines, watching cooking shows and some experimenting everything started to make more sense.

The kitchen timer just dinged, folks, so I have to take my cakes out of the oven and let them cool. Good thing I made a little mini-cake to test tonight 'cuz it smells delish in here!